From The League of Women Voters of Harford County:
The League of Women Voters of Harford County will host a Candidates’ Forum on Thursday evening, September 23, in the Chesapeake Theater of Harford Community College. The Forum will include all contested County level offices. Starting at 6:30PM, candidates for all three Board of Education positions in Districts A, B and D, will present their views and field questions from the audience.
Following that, from 7:30 – 9:30PM, candidates for County Executive, County Council Districts A, C and F, Register of Wills and Sheriff will also be on stage to answer questions from the public.
I was a member of the “league of women voters” mainly because I liked their name & they claim to be bi-partisan but they are not. They lean far left. Found out all to quickly that this association is nothing but a democrat liberal organization with very liberal ideas and views. They supported obama and his views including his Stimulus and other bills he quickly threw at us.. Check them out for yourself.Then tend to sway liberal left in all they do!! Now I was a member of Baltimore Group and maybe Harford group is different but i don’t think so. All the newsletters I received swayed left and Even were their endorsements..check for yourself. Just google League of women voters endorsements..
http://harford1.lwvmd.org/n/
http://www.postonpolitics.com/2010/09/league-of-women-voters-touts-new-guide-as-democracy-made-easy/
Skewed Says:
September 21st, 2010 at 12:56 pm
League of Women Voters consistently advocates for democrats.
Just look at their past endorsements.
League of Women Voters – Democrat Party Machine.
There is no balance, it’s a one-sided endorsement.
What a shame they ‘hide’ behind their title.
_________________________________________________
I was at the forum this evening. I pray for the people of District D who have to choose between Warfield and Grambo. They don’t have a complete brain or thought between them. Ditto for Sheryl Davis Kohl. Cassandra Beverly did a nice job as did Bob Frisch. Mary Ann Lisanti was very impressive. I went in rooting for Jeff Gahler in the race for sheriff and he totally lost my vote. Sheriff Bane did an excellent hob articulating his positions while Gahler just floundered.
More importantly, I cannot believe the number of no-show candidates. Ron Eaton. Yvonne Baldwin. David Craig. Hopkins (both of them). Unreal and totally disrespectful to the people of Harford County who you claim to want to represent.
FYI Derek Hopkins was out of town on business. Not sure about the others.
So while I’m at it, let me address the alleged ‘business trip.’ Even if that was why he couldn’t be there, fine. But he must have known at least 24 hours in advance so he could have easily sent a short statement to be read by the moderator explaining his absence.
And the other candidates (Craig, Baldwin, the other Hopkins) should/could have done the same. I’m not singling out Hopkins (the other one).
I attended last nights forum and I did notice that there was a candidate that did send information regarding credentials, qualifications, and a letter to all in attendance regarding the absence. As far as I am aware, after asking some of the women from the league no statement was allowed to be read by anyone if a candidate was unable to attend.
Watcher: Is everything a conspiracy to you? You keep talking about allegations and conjecture on everyone’s part, yet you are the only one making stuff up. You speak as though your opinion should be the final word on any subject. You don’t even know WTH you are talking about and I seriously think you have the Hopkins candidates confused (the first one, no I mean the other one) Your lack of intelligence and incoherent ramblings are pathetic yet amusing.
What have I said that sounds like a conspiracy? Only conjecture I mentioned was this supposed business trip. Nothing more. Never claimed to be the final word/ultimate authority/whatever. I do not have the Hopkins candidates confused. Actually, neither of them appeared last night. Obviously my basic wordplay on the fact that there are TWO people named Hopkins running to replace another person named Hopkins for Register of Wills was lost on you.
Find someone else to speak to as you are clearly out of your depth with me.
Please let me know if I used too many polysyllabic words in this post and I can send you a simpler version with pictures.
Watcher, Next time at least pretend to watch and/or listen. No one believes you were rooting for Gahler, in fact my guess is that you had a Bane t-shirt on. Remember that this was taped and everyone will get to see it if they choose, only leaving you to be the fool. Gahler and Bane both did well as I expected they would. Where each of them had very specific answers to the questions asked, you have no such specifics, just a negative campaign slap. You are an embarrasment to your Democratic Party (which will demo’ed in November).
Well, I stand by what I said. I had heard great things about Gahler and even had a good friend pass me some of his campaign literature a few weeks back. Having seen the Sheriff speak on a few occasions, I felt as if he had lost a step or two recently. I respect the fight that Gahler fought as well as the fact that he acknowledged Bodway’s effort (who was in the audience).
But at the end of the day, he fell far short of expectations. He seemed flustered and unprepared.
So, in closing, I was indeed there for the entire evening. Wearing a nice button down shirt, I will add. Not a Jesse Band t-shirt. But you’re so obviously blinded by partisanship that you won’t believe anything I write, anyway.
Watcher – you and your gang pull Dem 9 out of 10 times. You are not fooling anyone. I’m sure you think Obama was still the correct choice.
And you probably think Obama is a ‘secret muslim.’ You are also out of your depth.
Next!
lol. this one made me laugh out loud. By Obama’s admission, He is a muslem!! Also this is the only group he caters to and prays with and knows their customs.. I wonder if he practices islam?
Watcher: Where can I get a Jesse Band t-shirt?
I imagine at his campaign headquarters.
And still no facts from our well dressed “watcher”. Must be a watcher because he can’t hear what was being said. Want to Watch something interesting? Watch Bane go goodbye on November 2nd.
You are welcome to keep attacking me for my alleged support of Sheriff Bane. All I simply said about Mr. Gahler was that he fell short of my expectations. I didn’t attack the man. Again, just an opinion.
Everyone is so sensitive…
Sorry, Sara. You are incorrect. But thanks for playing.
P.S. – you are not smart.
Watcher –
I bet ya pull that good old Dem lever 9 out of 10 times.
is that anybody’s business?
Sara – more like 6 out of 10. I’m not as easily swayed as the rest of you lemmings.
Watcher
I’m pretty sure you are a 9 out of 10 Dem. I’ve seen your postings.
Sorry, Sara. I’m a 60% type of guy. I like to think outside the box. Unlike you, apparently.
Which basically means that you have little or no core values.
Trash Bag Knot – untrue. I just don’t assume that everything I read/see is the truth. I like to investigate and research on my own. But there are certainly core things that I believe to be true.
Many candidates do have jobs that required them to be unable to attend last evenings forum. How can you consider that “unreal and disrespectful” when they are hard working citizens that do care to represent the county but may have had required business trips placing them out of town during this time. At least they have jobs and are working hard to earn a living. Please understand that just because there was a conflict in scheduling does not mean a candidate does not care or is being disrespectful.
That event was planned months ago. If you’re running (even before the primary), you need to clear your schedule for public forums. Just my opinion.
I see. Well as far as I know, there are multiple public forums scheduled between now and the general election that I am certain will be well attended by candidates. I believe that just because a candidate misses one due to work purposes does not make them any less concerned about the county and representing the public than any other candidate who may be able to attend. If you are that interested and concerned these candidates do not care because of their lack of attendance, perhaps you clear your schedule and attend every public forum that is scheduled from now until the general election. Then you will be more qualified to make an assumption about a candidate and his/her concerns for the Harford County community.
Thus far, I have been to every forum.
Watcher has been to every forum! Good for you! You get a gold star! Some of us have lives to live, no smiley faces for us.
Does anyone else think Watcher is full of it? I have seen no postings from this person before, but now he is the most attentive citizen who is hanging on every word and attends every forum? Right, he is as believable as the National Enquirer.
Hey, PriceLess….maybe I was posting under a different name before. Way to think it through.
Do you know where I can get a list of these forum dates and locations? Most have not been well publicized and not well attended.
Yes, that is exactly what I suspected. Good Dem, when the going gets tough, hide under a new name. Who were you before O’mallobambaneacrat???? November is coming!!!
Bzzzzt! Wrong answer. But thanks for playing.
Thanks Sara. Watcher is “Living off the U.S. Taxpayer”. That explains a lot. time to Watch(er) his free ride come to an end in November!
Well Watcher, you should spend more time listening than watching. Did you hear Gahler misrepresent his credentials? No. But Jesse did. He repeatedly informs his audiences that he has a degree in Criminology, but he does not. LE officials are expected to have high ethics and integrity. When he deliberately misrepresents is credentials he violates that trust.
He says he has 38 years of law enforcement experience. Although he was employed at the Sheriff’s Office he has little LE experience. He did not make an arrest the entire time I worked there, which was 30 years. He spent most of his time escaping LE duties. He was an administrator for the bulk of his tenure, and a poor one at that. His decision-making skills are non-existent. His office is known as the “Black Hole” because he cannot “process” the requests, and work that is forwarded to him. He defers on just about everything. He spent about 2 million of your tax dollars for a Records Management System that did not work and continues to be a curse. (He is going to spend another huge sum to replace that RMS system) Oh, did I mention that he would not accept responsibility for that?
Under his lack of leadership the Sheriff’s Office has not held a property auction since July of 2000. That is a source of revenue that goes to the county general fund. Instead Bane has denied or postponed auctions. The most recent cancellation resulted because he wanted a friend “who contributed campaign money” to conduct the auction. Just ask J. Edwards the scheduled auctioneer, what he thinks of Jesse. Bane had to pay $2,000 for an auction that he postponed. That is great decision-making. $2,000 is a lot of taxpayer money to waste.
He cites facts and figures that no one can corroborate. Gahler does not have access to those numbers. For instance he says he has 10% of the known gang members locked up. Problem is he does not know how many gang members are operating in Harford County. He forgets about the gangs from Baltimore, Newark, and Wilmington that continually peddle their drugs and commit other crimes here. He sure wouldn’t be able to recognize them as he did not spend any time working the streets, especially in the south end of the county. He worked days and most of those days he could never be found. A famous saying about the office was “Has anyone had a Bane sighting?”
Bane likes to sit up on stage and take credit for the work of others. He wants the credit for tackling the gang issue but those anti-gang efforts started long before he was Sheriff. He was not involved in any way with those efforts. Most of the time he spent as a Major was either out of the office politicking, in the office playing solitaire, or criticizing the hard–working people in his command. When he is defeated by an opponent who is much more qualified I will be there to hold the door open for his departure. It’s time the citizen’s know what an inept Sheriff he really is.
I think all of these are valid points. Provided they are all true. I’m assuming you can point to places where what you have posted can be verified? If not, it isn’t much more than someone with an axe to grind.
And again, all I said was that I expected more from Gahler based on what I had heard and read about him before having this opportunity to hear him speak. Personally, he didn’t do much for me. Despite the posts from everyone attacking me, this is not an endorsement of Bane. Simply my two cents (the same as everyone else).
I will take issue with one thing you posted with regard to Bane taking credit for the work of his staff (“others”) below him. That’s the role, good or bad, of a leader. You have to take crap when it’s slung your way just like you get the benefit of getting credit for when your staff performs well.
I’m not disputing any of what you wrote as I have heard similar things before. But as a voter, it’s my job (and yours) to make an informed decision.
Watcher: When you say a good leader takes credit for the work of his staff and takes crap when something goes wrong, that is normally a true statement. However, Jesse Bane only takes the credit. He always deflects the blame to someone else. He is not a leader–he is always making someone else do his dirty work, but he is quick to be front and center for photo ops and praise. I recently spoke to him about an issue that he said he had absolutely no knowledge of. When I read through the paperwork–he signed it the day before! He is either senile or a liar or most likely both.
Ok. Then don’t vote for him. Democracy rules!
I was at the forum tonight, too, and I am not sure that Watcher and I were in the same place. Ms. Kohl gave thoughtful, complete and direct answers to the questions asked, as well as positive concise and clear responses to the questions. Ms. Lisanti stated she would continue in the same manner she has for the past 20 years in political positions, as well as saying that she would not answer questions about where she would cut funds w/n the budget because it would look like political pandering. I do like both women and have great respect for them putting themselves out campaigning. I strongly encourage all to watch the tape of the forum when it is on the HCC channel to see for themselves and hear the answers that each gave.
Mr. Bane and Mr. Gahler both gave thoughtful answers to the questions, but Mr. Bane basically sounded as if he could fix all of the county problems with a larger budget. Mr. Gahler responded to a question about the impact of gambling on the county with humor and with directness by saying a bigger issue will be the influx of 50,000 people from the BRAC. Where Mr. Bane acknowledged the work of the deputies, he credited the success of his efforts and his leadership in reducing the number of gangs and violent crimes w/n the county. I find that dis-ingenuous if I am to believe the Aegis and the Dagger’s coverage of the crime throughout the county w/n the last 3-5 months. Mr. Gahler showed a lot of class in acknowledging the positive campaign that Mr. Steven Bodway ran and thanked him for his promised support. He shared some of his ideas w/ combining the municipalities police depts. and the county depts. and the state police to insure coverage for the whole county. Both Mr. Bane and Mr. Gahler included specifics solutions w/n their answers.
Mr. Guthrie bloviated about his success in acquiring grants for the un-informed homeowners in his district,( Eloise Street and Grempler Rd) my question is why didn’t they, home owners, read the deed before they signed it? I do agree w/ him, Capt. Jim and Mr. Felton that the Impact fee is unfair and ought to be eliminated. I did not hear anyone address what they would cease to fund, to balance the budget due to the lower property taxes, and that is a concern. The county budget will be worked on almost immediately after the election and Harford county will be impacted directly by the lower property values, assessments and foreclosures. Some major areas of concern include safety, (sheriff), education, (about 70% of the county budget), transportation,(roads and buses, et al), and lets not forget all of the business issues we will face in order to continue to exist as a county between DC and Phila., and New York. Our aging population is also an issue that will be a major factor w/n the next 5-10 yrs and will affect the county and its budget needs.
One area that the forum did not cover was the issue of the numbers of youth on youth crime and youth activities as either a benefit or a problem w/n the county. The numbers of pregnant girls, drug using, gang wanna-bes, drinking and vandalizing teens seems to be much higher than a county w/ a population of 200,000 people (according to Mr. Guthrie), should have. These issues will need to be addressed, too.
Why is the impact fee unfair? Who should pay for the cost of new development, the current residents, or the ones causing the new growth? As you noted, the money would be cut from somewhere, but even if you cut spending, there is still a cost associated with a new house, so who should pay for that cost?
I never thought about the slant of the LOWV until Marge commented. Now looking back when I was a kid I worked for a neighbor on her farm. By today’s standards she’d be as liberal as they’d come – totally anti Conservative – except for the mondo checks she was raking in from utility investments. Her friend was one of the organizations leaders and former Bel Air / Harford County official – very liberal also. Shows how long ago that was – a very liberal Bel Air / Harford county leader. Times change, the county’s politics has changed, not too sure what impact the LOWV has in the county anymore anyway.
not this marge.. never been a liberal and always spoke the truth. clarify your words.
Democratic candidate for Register of Wills, Tom Hopkins, has a job which requires him to work most evenings. His schedule is set months in advance. He had to work the night of the forum. He may miss another forum or two if his schedule has him working. This shows me that he honors commitment and I don’t see how being a man of his word is disrespectful to the voters of Harford County. I personally want a man of this caliber to be in office, it would sure be a welcome change from what we have now. And for the record, I do not know either of the Hopkins candidates. I find info about the candidates on their websites and Facebook pages.
Um, he can’t take a night off to speak to the voters at a public forum? Sounds to me like a lack of commitment.
Um, it shows me that providing for his family is his top priority, as it should be. He is running the campaign his way, he is not letting it run him. Get off this site, you are a fraud.
Please. He has no business running for office. There are sacrifices to be made for the greater good and I don’t think taking an evening off of work, if in fact that was why he wasn’t there (which is pure conjecture on your part) is asking a lot. So when I take a personal day from work, I don’t want to provide for my family. Give me a break. it is YOU, sir, who are the fraud. Go back to the stone ages where you belong!
Let me correct myself. He’s committed to running for office. Likely only because of the $93k annual salary.
And you think the $93k salary wasn’t THE major incentive for the goat herder?
I actually have no clue whatsoever what your above post is trying to say. Your quote: “when I take a personal day from work, I don’t want to provide for my family.” I can’t even begin to imagine what point you are trying to make. As DaggerReader said, if you are so adament about mandatory attendance at forums and debates, I suggest you take time off from work to attend them all. And stop speculating as to why some candidates were unable to attend. It’s called LIFE buddy. And to make a sweeping statement that the candidates for Register of Wills are just in the running for the money, do you have personal knowledge of this? Have you spoken to the candidates and they have disclosed this information to you? If so, thank you for sharing. If not, find another website to bless with your wisdom.
I won’t even bother to try and explain my previous point to you. It’ll probably be over your head anyway.
As for my ‘sweeping statement’ about Register of Wills. It’s merely speculation. Do you know why I have to guess? Because they don’t come to forums to discuss issues with voters.
So, Blue, please either pay attention and ask pertinent questions without twisting words around or get to the back of the line.
Next!
You can’t explain your previous post because you don’t know WTH it means either. And your weak attempts at humor aren’t funny, just disturbing.
Ooooh….sticks and stones. Grow up.
Watcher – you sound like you may be U.S Taxpayer.
I suggest that you are one in the sames. You are a left-wing liberal operative planted to blog for the likes of Obama, Perlosi, Reid, and OMalley and the Harford County politicians that support their agendas.
You are not fooling anyone.
Sara – that is hilarious. I have not mentioned Obama, Pelosi, Reid or O’Malley in a single one of my posts. Not one time. But YOU did.
So I am not one in the ‘sames’ as you so eloquently stated. Your grasp of the English language is awesome. Maybe Pat McDonough can ship you out of the country to Mexico.
Nor am I a ‘left wing liberal operative.’ Which is an awesome theory, by the way.
No, sadly, I am a free thinking American who doesn’t simply follow the crowd or what Fox News tells me to like/believe/drink/say like you and your cohorts do.
What time is your Mensa meeting?
Watcher –
“I am a free thinking American who doesn’t simply follow the crowd”
Good for you! Now what political persuasion are you advocating?
BR
Does political persuasion matter? Is it the default position of many people that if they are not ultra right wing conservative they must be a liberal and sent by satan?
Look- if you are not an advocate of freedom and personal liberty, then you are an advocate of state control.
If you are willing to take the middle ground, then government will continue to grow and slowly steal our liberty and property.
This means that yes, if you are not a “conservative” then you are a “liberal”.
not you a liberal marge. the people i knew in the league in the 70s were. nobody ever thought about it back then as harford was 3 to 1 dem.
yes the whole state was democrat in them days.. when we were taught to vote your party no matter what. those days are gone. but in response to those that think they should vote someone else because someone was a NO show is just plain stupid. check out their websites then go and send them your questions email.It could of been an emergency but knowing the league of women voters, they are not very responsible and not worth my time either. I was involved shortly with them. they not bipartisan either..
To be clear and dare I say fair, I never said not to vote for someone because they didn’t show up. Read before you respond, please.
i wasn’t talking about you.. geez!!
The Dagger has been pretty good about publicizing them and so has The Aegis. I don’t know of any that are coming up.
I attended the forum and picked up several candidate fliers from the lobby table. During the BOE portion of the forum Mr. Jansen Robinson made claims of his significant contribution to the legislation creating elected positions on the school board. His flier makes similar claim. I remembered reading something in the Aegis awhile back about Mr. Robinson being interested in running for county council for the Edgewood and Joppa area. A quick internet search found two articles dating back as far as 2009 stating his desire/intend to do just that. It seems all to convenient that Mr. Robinson supported legislation creating an elected position he is now running for. It would also appear the he only made this decision to run for the BOE after Mr. Guthrie decided not to vacate the district A seat to run for state senate. So my question here is whether Mr. Robinson really wants to be on the BOE or is this a case of settling for second best under the circumstance? I understand that Mr. Robinson’s term as head of the Edgewood Community Council is about to end which will no longer provide him a platform and public exposure he needs to prepare for a 2014 race for county council, which is what he wanted to do in the first place.
I make it a point to watch the BOE meetings on the Harford County cable network and note that Mr. Frisch is always in attendance. Mr. Robinson has never been there. I would think that a BOE candidate would show that kind of interest. So does Mr. Robinson really want the BOE position or is he just a want-to-be politician looking or an office – any office, just to hold him over to the next election?
I have tried to find information about the candidates positions on the many issues facing our schools. I can’t find anything about Mr. Robinson’s platform. There is no record. He says “schools are a reflection of their community” but what does that mean? I hear a lot of rhetoric but no details. Mr. Frisch has a web page where you can clearly see where he stands on the issues and presents a plan to address them. He has also posted to this site many times so people know what he is about.
The BOE is a very important position. We need to look beyond those candidates who offer little more than words or style. We need choose someone that offers real substance.
Excerpts from the articles.
From The Aegis 9/9/09
Candidates lining up
Council politics heat up
http://www.exploreharford.com/news/1718/candidates-lining-up-council-politics-heat-up/
Guthrie said the main reason he would run against incumbent Sen. Nancy Jacobs, a Republican representing District 34, which includes southern Harford and western Cecil counties, is to “bring home the bacon, so to speak.”
But if Guthrie decides to run for the state senate, Jansen Robinson, chairman of the Edgewood Community Council, would gladly run to fill Guthrie’s shoes.
“I would only do so if Dion decides to run for another office,” Robinson said. “I want to continue the kinds of things he started. I think that would be an opportunity to kind of shift gears.”
From The Aegis 12/31/09
2010 Kicks off election season
Most of county’s incumbents have not yet filed
http://www.exploreharford.com/news/3026/2010-kicks-off-election-season/
Last year, Guthrie had not decided whether he will run again for the county council or against incumbent Sen. Nancy Jacobs, a Republican representing District 34, which includes southern Harford and western Cecil counties.
Beginning in January, Guthrie said, he is going to conduct a poll to ask his constituents what he should do. “It’s not about me,” Guthrie said. “I want to do what they want me to do.”
If Guthrie decides to run for the state senate, Jansen Robinson, chairman of the Edgewood Community Council, said he would be interested in filling the seat for District A.
Something else I found. This was a blog article about government employee salaries.
From the HarfordRepublican.com 5/12/06
Government Salaries
http://www.exploreharford.com/news/1718/candidates-lining-up-council-politics-heat-up/
Jansen M. Robinson
May 23, 2006 at 10:31 am
I agree. Don’t leave out the Sheriff’s Dept. and Teachers. In addition, if we are as concerned about tax increases as we say we are, then we should look into an alternative retirement plan for newly hired government workers.
WATCHER Previously posted under U.S. Taxpayer.
Watcher is simply a mouthpiece for anything left-wing and liberal – Obama, Perlosi, Reid, Waxman, Boxer and OMalley.
Watcher – U.S. Taxpayer – you are not fooling anyone with your foolishness.
Still no, Sara. As in, I am not previously known or posted as “U.S. Taxpayer” nor am I a ‘mouthpiece” for Obama, Pelosi (at least spell it correctly – that’s twice you have misspelled it), Waxman, Reid, Boxer or O’Malley.
Also, ‘no’ as in you are still not smart. Keep studying.
If you are Bob Frisch saying something against your opponent you should say so instead of hiding behind another name. The fact that you are talking about “Bob Frisch” being at a meeting and Jansen Robinson not, sounds a lot like someone who knows firsthand.
What would be wrong with Jansen Robinson not wanting to run against Dion Guthrie? Based on the latest election, incumbents mostly won. Did the Edgewood Community Council and Mr. Robinson get involved with the blended school board passing? The problems with the bill passing were coming straight from that district and their representative. The rest of the county was on board.